HS Basketball News
Seven Whatcom County teams are still standing after the opening round of the state basketball tournament over the weekend.
The Lynden girls continued their attempt at a three-peat by handling Selah 67-45. The top-seeded Lions move on to the 2A quarterfinals, where they’ll face the winner of 2nd-seeded Deer Park and 10th-seeded Mark Morris on Thursday.
The Lynden boys also advanced, they hammered Franklin Pierce 74-30. The 9th-seeded Lions now move on to the Round of 12, where they’ll play 8th-seeded Renton in a loser-out game at 9pm on Wednesday.
The Nooksack Valley boys picked up their first state tournament win since 2011, upsetting Fort Vancouver 54-45 on the road. The 16th-seeded Pioneers will play 8th-seeded Seattle Christian in another loser-out match at 2:00 on Wednesday in Yakima.
The Nooksack girls weren’t able to join them, as they got upset by 16th-seeded King’s Way Christian 43-36.
The Lummi Nation boys tipped off the Saturday slate by thumping Wahkiakum 78-49. The top-seeded Blackhawks will continue their path to defending the 1B state title in Spokane on Thursday when they play the winner of Neah Bay and Sunnyside Christian in the quarterfinals.
The Lummi girls fell to Neah Bay 43-41, as the 8th-seeded Blackhawks now play 9th-seeded Almira Coulee-Hartline in a loser-out game at 9 pm on Wednesday.
The Lynden Christian boys beat Chelan 84-63 to advance to the 1A quarterfinals. There, the 2nd-seeded Lyncs will face the winner of Nooksack Valley and Seattle Christian on Thursday.
And the Lynden Christian girls capped off the weekend by beating the defending state champs of Bellevue Christian 45-36. The 3rd-seeded Lyncs will face the winner of Montesano and Annie Wright in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
WWU Vikings News
Western’s men’s and women’s basketball teams each wrapped up their regular seasons on Saturday.
The women beat Montana State Billings 78-55 on Senior Night to earn the No. 1 seed in this week’s GNAC Championships. They earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament and will play the winner of Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene at 2:15 Friday at Carver Gym.
The Viks finished the regular season with a 23-6 record and are riding an eight game win streak to enter the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the men couldn’t get the job done, as their season came to an end. The Vikings fell to Northwest Nazarene 87-84 on the road to be eliminated from postseason contention.
Sophomore Aidan Rice scored 26 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Viks ended the season with a 13-16 record.
Elsewhere across the state, the Gonzaga men fell to St. Mary’s 70-59, as the Zags dropped three spots to No. 12 in the country after the upset. And the Washington men fell to Wisconsin 90-73 to spoil Detlef Schrempf’s jersey retirement night.
Kraken/Torrent News
The Kraken earned their first win post-Olympics over the weekend.
They beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Saturday to kick off their extended homestand. Jordan Eberle scored two goals and assisted on a third to lead the win.
The Kraken are back tonight when they host the Carolina Hurricane, who are riding a five-game win streak. Coverage begins at 6:30 and puck drops at 7 on KPUG.
Meanwhile, the Torrent fell to the Toronto Sceptres 5-2 in their return to the ice on Friday. They’re back on the road Wednesday night against the Ottawa Charge.
Mariners News
It was a rough weekend of spring training for the Mariners.
They suffered three losses as they finished up their first 10 games of Cactus League play.
A red-hot M’s offense cooled way down with six total runs scored between the three games. Cole Young and Luke Raley highlighted the games by each hitting their first home runs of spring training.
The M’s have the day off today before returning tomorrow to face the Los Angeles Angels. Coverage begins at 7:00 and first pitch is at 7:10 on KPUG.
